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'The Shakespeare of architects... he has yet had no equal in this country': Sir John Vanbrugh and the legacy of Blenheim PalaceTo mark the tercentenary of Sir John Vanbrugh’s death, Charles Saumarez Smith considers the changing reactions to one of his greatest creations, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. Photographs by Will Pryce for Country Life.
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Can you tell the difference between a trefoil and an embrasure? A pictorial guide to medieval architectureMedieval architecture is easy to admire, but its terminology can be impenetrable. Matthew Rice's illustration unlocks it.
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Lord Byron, Charles Dickens and Sir Walter Scott once dined at this Jacobean mansion in London. Destroyed by The Blitz it lives on now only in the Country Life ArchiveLord Byron jockeyed for position at the table alongside Lord Melbourne and Benjamin Disraeli. Charles Dickens and Sir Walter ScottThe Holland House estate was once London's best example of early domestic Jacobean architecture in the country.
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'Climbing is to ascend not only through space, but through centuries of lineage': The great staircases of Britain's finest country housesThe grand, sweeping staircases of old country houses are loaded with centuries of architectural, romantic and ghostly allure. Melanie Cable-Alexander takes a look at how they've become entwined with our ideas of what a country house should be.
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The Picturesque Scottish castle built on land admired by Robert Burns and erased by warDunglass Castle, in Scotland, was once a vision of 18th century Picturesque beauty. Now it lives on only in the Country Life Archive.
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Portmeirion: A century of peculiar genius at Clough Williams-Ellis's great village experiment2026 marks the centenary of Portmeirion, one of the most celebrated holiday villages in the British Isles. Kathryn Ferry tells the remarkable story of this Picturesque creation; photographs by John Goodall.
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The great country houses which inspired the tales of Agatha Christie, 50 years on from her deathBritain's greatest-ever crime writer set many of her murder mysteries in country houses. With the help of specially commissioned drawings by Matthew Rice, Jeremy Musson looks at the architecture of the buildings she knew — and those which she imagined.
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Find out what remains of the colossal country house whose 'corpulent buffoon' of an owner had it blown up with vast quantities of gunpowderMelanie Bryan revisits Eastbury Park in Dorset — which was photographed for Country Life 99 years ago, decades after large parts of it were demolished.
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The 400-year-old floors perfectly preserved in the house that inspired Charles Dickens to create Miss Havisham's mansionMost country houses demand you look up and around at what you see. At Restoration House in Rochester, you'll miss out if you don't also look down.
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Our cathedrals are 'by far the most important works of architecture in Britain', and Exeter is a perfect 21st century update to a medieval masterpieceJohn Goodall looks at an ambitious restoration project to the choir and cloister of Exeter Cathedral, which was completed in 2025. Photographs by Paul Highnam and Andy Marshall.
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The real-life Manderley, and the other country houses that inspired Daphne du MaurierThe writer Daphne du Maurier was fascinated by the English country house. Jeremy Musson explores her evocation of these buildings with the help of photographs from the Country Life Image Archive and a series of specially commissioned drawings by Matthew Rice.
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Country Life's top 10 architecture stories of 2025, from the South Wales terrace with an exquisite Georgian interior, to Ireland's remarkable country housesWe look back at the most-read architecture stories on the Country Life website in 2025.
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Heaven in Devon: The sophisticated, ethereal beauty of Exeter CathedralExeter Cathedral in Devon is an idiosyncratic masterpiece that illuminates the sophistication and personalities behind the development of late-medieval English architecture. John Goodall explains more, with photography by Paul Highnam.
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The Houses of Guinness: A real-life 'Succession' with privileged characters, living extravagant lifestyles 'and revelling in their extraordinary lives'The Guinness family has garnered more headlines, column inches and pages written about them than they've seen for many years. Adrian Tinniswood's book, centred on the country houses they built in the British Isles, is the best of the lot, says Timothy Mowl.
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A fate worse than demolition? The desecration of the original Bank of England, one of Georgian architecture's great masterpiecesThis year is the centenary of the enlargement of the Bank of England initiated by Sir Herbert Baker. Clive Aslet asks whether the project deserves its reputation as an unforgivable act of architectural desecration. Photographs by John Goodall.
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John Goodall: Restoration is 'an act of recycling', but we need a system that encourages itNew-build is exempt from VAT, but the construction industry accounts for nearly 40% of global emissions of carbon dioxide. Something needs to change, says Country Life's architectural editor.
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170 years ago, a river of excrement ran through the centre of London, spreading stench, disease and death. The engineer and architect who cleaned it up deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Christopher WrenThe architect and engineer Joseph Bazalgette made a contribution to British life and the wellbeing of its people that cannot be overstated. Kate Green celebrates his life and legacy.
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This Grade I Essex home was renovated by a Guinness and a notorious American diarist and photographed by Country Life — now it's a firm favourite with the fashion setKelvedon Hall was saved from demolition by Lady Honor Guinness and Henry 'Chips' Channon. Now it is the star of a Church's Christmas campaign.
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Northwold Manor: 'A place of delight once more after half a century of chaos and neglect'A heroic restoration project has transformed Northwold Manor in Norfolk — home of Professor Warwick Rodwell and Ms Diane Gibbs — after more than 50 years of being left neglected. It has also illuminated its remarkable history, as John Goodall explains; photography by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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53 years ago, a Wren masterpiece was replaced with a glorified roundabout. We must not make the same mistake againThe plans to rid Christ Church Newgate Street of traffic should be cause for celebration — but a mistake as bad as the one made in the 1970s is about to happen, says Ptolemy Dean.
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Ten of the most exquisite French châteaux, photographed for Country Life in 1906 and still standing todayIn the early 20th century, Country Life commissioned Frederick H. Evans to photograph some of France's châteaux. Here are some of his efforts.
